Locking device for clothes wringer



l 23, 1952 Q 1:. QOUCHOT 2,622 427 LOCKING DEVICE FOR CLOTHES WRINGERFiled Aug. 5, 1949 Attorney Patented Dec. 23, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE LOCKING DEVICE FOR- CLOTHES WRINGER Orville F. Couchot, De Land,Fla.

Application August 5, 1949, Serial No. 108,807

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a locking attachment for a clothes wringerwhereby a clothes wringer may be releasably locked to a wall of alaundry tub to releasably retain the wringer against swinging movementrelatively thereto to enable the wringer to be more efficiently utilizedfor wringing clothes and to eliminate the need for manually holding thewringer to prevent it from swinging relatively to the sections of alaundry tub while clothes are being applied thereto.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a wringer lockingattachment of extremely simple construction which may be veryeconomically manufactured and applied to wringers and which willefiectivel function to retain the clothes wringer in a predeterminedposition and which be easily operated for positioning the attachment ina locking position or in a released position.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

Figure l is a top plan view showing a four section laundry tub of thetype conventionally used in self-service laundries and showing thewringer mounted thereon;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary end elevational view, partly insection taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 2--2of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong a plane as indicated by the line 3--3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4c is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing the locking devicein a released position, and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the locking plate, shown removed.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, for the purpose ofillustrating one application and use of the invention, hereinafter to bedescribed, a conventional type of laundry tub is illustrated in Figure 1and designated generally 6 and is provided with four tub sections orcompartments I separated from one another by the internal partitions orwalls 8. Each of said tub sections 1 may be provided with an agitatingunit 9. A clothes wringer ii) of conventional construction is mountedabove the tub 6 and is provided with a gear head ll beyond one endthereof which is suitably supported for swivel movement at the center ofthe tub 6 so that the wringer ll! may be disposed directly over any oneof the partitions B. A means for swivelly mounting the clothes wringerit has not been illustrated and constitutes no part of the presentinvention.

The locking attachment, designated generally 12 and comprising theinvention includes a pair of depending ears l3 which are formed integralwith or suitably secured to the outer end wall I4 of the clothes wringerH). A plate It: has a rod or shaft It extending therethrough adjacentone end thereof and the ends of which project from the side edges of theplate l5 and are journaled in aligned apertures of the depending ears l3for swingably mounting the plate [5 on the outer end of the wringer l3and beneath its end Wall Hi for swinging movement longitudinally of thewringer. The plate 15 is provided with a longitudinally extending notchll which opens outwardly of its opposite, free end and which is adaptedto straddle any one of the partitions 8 over which the wringer IE isdisposed when said plate is in a depending, substantially uprightposition, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. The plate [5 has anapertured ear I8 projecting from its inner side above and adjacent thenotch l'i in which a right angularly disposed headed end I9 of a strandof wire, designated generally 20, is journaled. The strand 20 is formedof a resilient metal and has its opposite end portion extendingoutwardly through an opening 2 I of the wall it and provided with a loopor eye 22 at the terminal thereof forming a finger grip and which islocated outwardly of said wall l4. The wire strand 26 is inwardly bowedwith respect to the plate 15 and wall l4 and is provided with a bend 23located adjacent the finger hold 22 and another bend 2!; which isdisposed substantially intermediate of its ends. When the portion of thestrand 20, disposed between the loop 22 and bend 23, is in engagementwith the opening 2| the plate I5 is disposed in a depending positionsubstantially in alignment with the end wall I so that the notch I!thereof may straddle one of the partitions 8 to prevent the wringer iiifrom being swung relatively to the tub 6. The resilient strand 26 willreleasably retain the plate 15 in this its locking position, asillustrated in Figures 2 and 3, due to the bend 23 engaging frictionallyagainst the inner edge of the opening 2| and the loop 22 engaging thewall around the outer end of said opening to thereby releasably retainthe locking attachment l2 in a locking position.

By grasping and exerting a pull on the loop 22 in a direction away fromthe wringer W, the bend portion 23 will be caused to yield and passoutwardly through the opening 2! so that the plate 55 may be swungupwardly in a clockwise direction from its dotted line to its full lineposition of Figure 4, in which latter position the bend 24 is disposedin frictional engagement with the Wall of the opening 2! to releasablysupport the plate I with the notch i1 thereof disposed above the upperedges of the partitions 8, as seen in Figure 4, so that the wringer mayswing relatively to the tub 6 to position the wringer above any one ofthe partitions 8. It will be readily apparent that the wringer can bere-locked in any position to which it is moved above a partition 8 byforcing the strand 2D in the opposite direction or from right to left ofFigures 3 and 4 through the opening 2| to return the parts to theirpositions of Figure 3 for releasably locking the wringer in a newposition over another partition 8. A metal plate or strip may be securedby fastenings 26 to the end wall It and is provided with a depending end21 which is disposed outwardly of the plate I5 to provide a stop forlimiting the swinging movement of said plate in a counterclockwisedirection or toward an operative position.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that the locking device12 may be readily operated by manually engaging the loop or finger grip22 for moving it to and from a locked and released position and when ina released position will permit the wringer ill to swing freelyrelatively to the tub partitions 8 and when in a locked position, willeffectively prevent any swinging movement of the wringer relatively tothe partitions 8 and tub sections 7.

It will be readily apparent that the looking attachment I2 is equallywell adapted for use on a laundry tub having only two tub sections.Various modifications and changes in the structure of the invention asdisclosed are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafterdefined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A locking attachment for wringers of the type which are swivellymounted for swinging movement above a laundry tub having partitionsdividing the tub into a plurality of tub sections and over any one ofwhich partitions the wringer is adapted to be disposed, comprising aplate, means for swingably supporting said plate at one end thereof onthe outer end wall of a clothes wringer for swinging movement of saidplate in a direction longitudinallly of the wringer and in substantiallya vertical plane, said plate having an outwardly opening notch in itsfree end adapted to straddle the upper edge of a partition of a tub overwhich the wringer is disposed when said plate is in substantially a.perpendicular position for locking the wringer thereto to preventswinging movement of the wringer relatively to the tub, and a springwire pivotally connected at one end to said plate and with its other endfree for manual grasping and slidably and frictionally engaginga portionof the wringer for swinging the plate upwardly and out of engagementwith the tub partition over which the wringer is disposed or downwardlyandinto engagement therewith and having portions for frictionallyengaging a part of the wringer to maintain the plate in either a raised,released position or a depending, locked position.

2. A locking attachment for swingably mounted clothes wringersassociated with wash tubs having partitions comprising a locking memberadapted to be swingably mounted on the outer, free end of a wringer forstraddling a tub partition over which the wringer is disposed when in adepending position for locking the wringer against swinging movement,and a spring wire connected to said locking member and having a free endexposed for manual grasping and slidably and frictionally engaging aportion of the wringer for releasably retaining the lockingmember ineither a depending locked position or a raised, released position abovethe level of the partition.

3. A locking attachment for wringers of the type which are swivellymounted for swinging movement above a laundry tub having partitionsdividing the tub into a plurality of tub sections and over any one ofwhich partitions the wringer is adapted to be disposed, comprising aplate, means for swingably supporting said plate at one end thereof onthe outer end wall of a clothes wringer for swinging movement of said:plate in a direction longitudinally of the wringer and in substantiallya vertical plane, said plate having an outwardly opening notch in itsfree end adapted to straddle the upper edge of a partition of a tub overwhich the wringer is disposed when said plate is in substantially aperpendicular position for locking the wringer thereto to preventswinging movement of the wringer relatively to the tub, and meanspivotally connected to said plate and slidably and frictionally engaginga portion of the wringer for swinging the plate upwardly and out ofengagement with the tub partition over which the wringer is disposed ordownwardly and into engagement therewith and having .portions forfrictionally engaging a part of the wringer to maintain the plate ineither a raised, released position or a depending, locked position, saidlast mentioned means comprising a strand of resilient wire having aright angularly turned end, an ear projecting from one side of saidlooking plate and in which said right angularly turned end of the wireis journaled, said wringer portion constituting a part of the outer endwall of the wringer and being provided with an opening through which theopposite end portion of the strand projects in a direction outwardly ofthe wringer, and said portions of the strand comprising spaced bentparts forcibly movable through the wringer wall opening and selectivelyengageable frictionally therewith for releasably retaining the plate ineither an operative or released position.

ORVILLE F. COUCHOT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 927,279 Ramby July 6, 19091,461,226 Reddig July 10, 1923 1,559,427 Marbach Sept. 14, 19261,726,301 Judelson Aug. 27, 1929 2,111,586 Frantz Mar. 22, 19382,193,247 Dyer Mar. 12, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 662,901France Mar. 29, 1929

